Dark matter decay in the Milky Way halo

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Lovell, Mark R.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866914637290668032
author Lovell, Mark R.
author_facet Lovell, Mark R.
contents Dark matter may be detected in X-ray decay, including from the decay of the dark matter particles that make up the Milky Way (MW) halo. We use a range of density profiles to compute X-ray line intensity profiles, with a focus on the resonantly produced sterile neutrino dark matter candidate. Compared to the Navarro--Frenk--White density profile, we show that using an adiabatically contracted halo profile suppresses the line intensity in the halo outskirts and enhances it in the Galactic Centre (GC), although this enhancement is eliminated by the likely presence of a core within 3~kpc. Comparing our results to MW halo observations, other X-ray observations, and structure formation constraints implies a sterile neutrino mixing angle parameter $s_{11}\equiv\sin^{2}(2θ)\times10^{11}\sim[3,4]$ (particle lifetime $τ_{28}\equivτ/(10^{28}\mathrm{sec})\sim[1.0,1.3]$), which is nevertheless is strong tension with some reported non-detections. We make predictions for the likely decay flux that the XRISM satellite would measure in the GC, plus the Virgo and Perseus clusters, and outline further steps to determine whether the dark matter is indeed resonantly produced sterile neutrinos as detected in X-ray decay.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2401_05493
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Dark matter decay in the Milky Way halo
Lovell, Mark R.
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
Astrophysics of Galaxies
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
Dark matter may be detected in X-ray decay, including from the decay of the dark matter particles that make up the Milky Way (MW) halo. We use a range of density profiles to compute X-ray line intensity profiles, with a focus on the resonantly produced sterile neutrino dark matter candidate. Compared to the Navarro--Frenk--White density profile, we show that using an adiabatically contracted halo profile suppresses the line intensity in the halo outskirts and enhances it in the Galactic Centre (GC), although this enhancement is eliminated by the likely presence of a core within 3~kpc. Comparing our results to MW halo observations, other X-ray observations, and structure formation constraints implies a sterile neutrino mixing angle parameter $s_{11}\equiv\sin^{2}(2θ)\times10^{11}\sim[3,4]$ (particle lifetime $τ_{28}\equivτ/(10^{28}\mathrm{sec})\sim[1.0,1.3]$), which is nevertheless is strong tension with some reported non-detections. We make predictions for the likely decay flux that the XRISM satellite would measure in the GC, plus the Virgo and Perseus clusters, and outline further steps to determine whether the dark matter is indeed resonantly produced sterile neutrinos as detected in X-ray decay.
title Dark matter decay in the Milky Way halo
topic Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
Astrophysics of Galaxies
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.05493